AZPOD Rocks said:
Eric,
I have a few questions.
1. Do you have a family? If so, how is it on them?
2. What are the hours like? Are they more reasonable than typical civilian residencies?
3. Can you paint a miniature picture of what you expect it to be like upon graduation from your residency (in terms of scope of practice, deployment, etc.)?
Thanks,
AZPOD Rocks
1. I don't have a family (well; I do, but I'm single). Some of the other past and current residents do. I really wouldn't be able to give you a first hand account, but don't think this program is any different on the family life than any others.
2. Hours are about the same as any civilian program I visited. Longer than you'd like it to be. To some extent you can make of it what you like. I prefer to get in early to have some time to get organized, study, catch up on paperwork, etc.
Things have changed a bit from year to year, so what I put here might not be the same later. Due to the transition from PSR-24 to PM&S-36 during my first year, I started at Ft Bragg and have been here the whole time. The current deal is for the 1st year to be at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta GA. They have a different patient population. (More trainees, more retirees) I haven't been there, but understand their hours are more like regular office hours. On the other hand, most of the outside rotations will be done there so schedules may change from month to month. (Same as any other residency).
I'll run through a typical week. Every day starts at 7 AM, radiology rounds with Ortho to review the on-call stuff from the day and night before. Sometimes nothing to report, other days runs 30-45 minutes. Every day 730-800 is left open for "Fracture Clinic". The ER or outlying clinics may send people over if they need us to see them. (On call person is responsible for this.) Most of the time there isn't anything, but the time is available. Usually the on-call person will field the calls, and can head off some of this, or have them come in at a time that might be more convenient for them. Monday mornings are usually preops. Monday Afternoons are for clinic based procedures. Typically stress tests, hardware removals, nail procedures, etc.
Residents see their own clinics (with supervision), and the schedules will vary. Tue, Wed, Thur typically one day will be in clinic and the other two in the OR, but varies by resident. Which attendings they are working with will vary. We are given a lot of responsibility, and a fair amount of leeway, but again this varies by resident. If you need more supervision, or help, you'll get it. Friday mornings are set aside for academics, though this often gets preempted by cases that need to be added to the OR schedule. Friday afternoons is typically an overflow clinic to see people that needed to be seen, but other clinic appts were full. So typically 2-3 full OR days/week. On call depends on the number of residents available/off-service. Usually 1/3-4 days. Call is taken from home, most of the call issues usually come in during the day. Every residnecy is a bit different, and as far as schedules I think this program is similar to many others.
3. The last one is really the big one. The experience with vary from person to person, and to some extent is what you make of it. You will move, and may not have much input as to where. That will depend on who is rotating, and where they need people. The consultant knows the residents and what they can do, and will take that into consideration. A first assignment may be at a location where there is another podiatrist who may take on many of the administrative duties. In other locations, you may be the only podiatrist. At any you will be able to work within the full scope of your training. They will also work with you to help in getting board certified. There really are no bad places to be sent, just some are better than others. You'll have to be the judge of this, as everyone has different opinions.
Deployment is not a big deal. We currently have one active duty podiatrist deployed to Iraq for a 1 year rotation. There have been others before, but they are typically filling the same position. That is at a fixed facility (combat support hospital), so you wouldn't be out doing patrols or anything crazy. I wouldn't expect them to take someone fresh out of residency to do that either. Their preference is for us to get some experience first. The deployment also goes on your record and can be helpful with promotion.
There is definately more that could be said. Hopefully I answered some of the questions. My recommendation for anyone who is remotely interested is to take the time to do an externship rotation or at least visit. If you cannot work that out, at least try to set up a visit with an Army podiatrist even if it is not one of the residency sites. Even if you are not planning to apply, an externship rotation is a good idea. It would provide you with some exposure to a different setting, typically will see a fair amount of trauma, sports med, arthroscopy, pediatrics and a good amount of OR time.
